Highway-illuminating system



Why ML i943 F, o. SMITH ET AL Zgzg HIGHWAY ILLUMINATING SYSTEM OrigirglFilepddDeo. 50, 1955 2 Sheet's-Shee?l l May 1L 1943 F. o. SMITH ETAL313322 HIGHWAY ILLUMINATING SYSTEM Original Filed Dec. 50, 1935 2Sheets-Sheet 2 annu@i A A M y am a7 [n ven ons Patented May 1'1, "1943UNITED HIGHWAY- ILLUIKINATIN G SYSTEM Ferdinand 0. Smith, Hamden, andWilliam V Hirschfeld, New Haven, Conn., assignors to The GuidaliteCorporation, Meriden, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut substitutedtor abandoned application Serial No. 56,612, December 30, 1935. Thisapplication January 18, 1939, Serial No. 251,562

3 Claims.

This invention relates to highway illuminating systems, and moreparticularly to the provision of means for creating luminous boundariesof roads, highways and byways, and particularly directed high enough andwere bright enough,

the danger of striking an unseen object is reduced somewhat, but wherethe object has substantially the same color as the road, even brightheadlights might not disclose its presence. Besides, if the headlightsare too bright, there is the hazard of the driver approaching from theother direction being blinded. The problem obviously cannot be solved bymaking the headlights of the automobile brighter.

Another problem in night driving is to indicate far enough in advancethe changes of direction of the road in both a vertical and horizontalplane so that the driver may avoid running off the road and possiblyinto the side of a hill or over an embankment. A solution of thisproblem has been attempted by the placing of warning signs at curves,but these signs are not adequate and do not indicate the course oi thecurve.

Heretofore it has been proposed to place lightreflecting units on theground level along the shoulder or edge of the road for the purpose ofoutlining the road, and under normal conditions these reilecting meansare quite helpful, but they are of no help whatsoever in indicating thepresence of a pedestrian who might be Walking along the road, and beinglocated at the road level they are quickly covered and hidden by snow,mud and refuse that might accumulate along the side of the road.

The present invention avoids all these diliculties and practicallyeliminates the real hazard rst above referred to by providing along theroadway a continuous succession of posts equispaced and uniformly spacedfrom the adjacent edge or shoulder of the road and providing on each ofthese posts, optical light gathering and reflecting means so arranged asto provide an elongate vertical luminous column visible from.

the vehicle whose lights impinge upon such means. The luminous column,according to the present invention, should be substantial in length andshould amount to approximately twentyseven inches or more. At its lowerend it should be elevated thirty inches or less. The post -and reflectorunits, according to the presentinvention, are spaced along the road fromeach other by such distances that on the straightawair within a safestopping distance the luminous columns from succeeding post andreflector units apparently juxtapose to form a substantially continuousluminous wall.

This luminous wall is high enough from the ground and extensive enoughin height to be unaffected by mud thrown olf the road and by normal snowfalls. It is suiciently elevated from the ground and sufficiently highin itself so that if a person, even a child, should be walking along theroad, an interruption or break would occur in the luminous wall,indicating to the driver the presence of some obstruction, and givingthe driver an opportunity to slow down or stop in time to avoid anaccident.

Besides, the substantially continuous luminous wall receives andreflects back sumcient light from the automobile to indicate the courseof the road, even when the car is being approached by another car havingextremely bright lights.

The present invention contemplates providing a continuous succession ofpost and reflector units on both sides of the road and uniformly spacedfrom the edge of the road, and placing v on' both the obverse and thereverse faces of the post reilecting means for producing the elongateluminous column. two luminous walls so' formed converge at the vanishingpoint of the road or at a point where the road makes a turn.

To avoid confusion which might occur at the turn of a road, or whenproceeding in fog or in a snow storm, the luminous columns on one sideof the road preferably have light collecting and reflecting means whichis optically characteristically distinguishable from the lightcollecting and reflecting means on the other side of the road and facingin the same direction. For instance, the light collecting and reflectingmeans on the obverse side of .the post at the right-hand side of theroad may advantageously be madel up of crystal-clear reilecting units,while that on the reverse side of the posts at the left-hand side of theroad may be advantageously made up 4of alternate crystal-clear and amberreflecting units. Thus, when proceeding in a fog, if the driver willkeep to the right of the colored reflectors and to the left of the Whitereilectors, he will stay on the road. When the driver observes theluminous columns of colored light swinging over toward the columns ofuncolored light, he will be apprised that the road turns to the right,and if the white luminous columns swing over toward When this is done,the

the colored luminous columns, he will know that the road turns to theleft.

Since the posts and the reflecting means mounted thereon are uniform inheight, the undulations of the road will be indicated by waves in theluminous wall. Thus, a slight hump in the road, as over a culvert, wouldbe indicated to the driver well in advance, so that his speed may beslackened if that is necessary for safety sake, and the same is true ofa dip in the road.

While it is contemplated that for any considerable stretch of road thepost and reflector units will be mounted uniform distances from theshoulder of the road, yet, where there is a narrow bridge, thereflectors will be gradually brought closer to the edge of the road andwill follow the roadway over the bridge.

By having the luminous columns on opposite sides of the road equallyspaced from the edge of the road and especially when they are arrangedin couples in gate-like relation, substantially opposite each other, itis an easy matter for the driver to ascertain the center of the road andremain on his own side.

Preferably the spacing between the post reflector units along thestraightaway is such that in a fog at least two or possibly threeluminous columns may be seen at the same time. The luminous Wall oflight on the far side of the road does more than merely indicate theWidth of the road and the contour of the road. It serves to indicate theposition of vehicles approaching from the opposite direction. for thevehicle will block out a certain part of the luminous wall of light. Ifthe approaching vehicle has but one headlight or none at all, itsoutline may be clearly seen by the driver of the approaching vehicle bythe amount of the Wall of light which is blocked out.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the present invention as usedon an up-grade section of a highway;

Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating the effect of the presentinvention on a straightaway stretch of highway;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating a highway equipped withthe present invention;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view thereof;

Fig. 5 is a broken face view of one form which a double-facedilluminating post of the present invention may assume;

Fig. 6 is a broken view looking toward the outside edge thereof;

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 1--1 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a top-end view of an illuminating post designed for use onrelatively-sharp curves;

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatical sectional view through one of thereflector-buttons;

Fig. 10 is a face view of a rectangular reflectorbutton suitable for usein connection with the present invention; and

Fig. 11 is a transverse sectional view of one form which a single-facedilluminating post may assume in accordance with the present invention.

In its preferred embodiment, the present invention contemplates theemployment along each of the respective opposite edges of a highway of acontinuous series of illuminating posts to produce a wallor fence-likeeffect along each side of the highway, as indicated particularly well inFigs. 1 to 4 inclusive of the accompanying drawings.

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The illuminating posts employed are pref- 76 erably of a double-facedcharacter, such as is particularly well shown in Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive.the structural details and component-parts arrangement of which postsmay vary widely.

The illuminating post shown in Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive of theaccompanying drawings includes a sheet-metal standard or support,generally designated by the numeral 20, and having its lower portion 2iof trough or U-shaped form in crosssection and its upper portion 22 ofrectangular tube-form in cross-section. The respective oppositeside-walls or faces 23 and 24 of the tubular portion 22 of the standard20 are each provided with a vertical series of perforations 25. Intoeach of the perforations 25 is fitted the substantially-cylindricalbody-portion 26 of a so-called reflector-button, generally designated bythe numeral 21.

'I'he body-portion 26 of each of the reflectorbuttons 21 is ofcup-shaped form (Fig. 9), preferably formed of light non-corrosivesheet-metal, and having its cylindrical wall upset tc provideoutwardly-facing stop-shoulders 28 against which is seated the outturnedflange of a concave-convex reflector 29. 'I'he concave outer face of thesaid reflector is preferably silvered and polished to afford a maximumdegree of light reflection. Over the outturned flange of the reflector29 is placed a washer 30 of soft material, against the outer face oiwhich rests the flat under-side of a plane-convex lens 3l. The lens 3land hence the Washer 3U and reflector 29 are held in place by spinningthe edge 32 of the body-portion 26 inwardly and part-way over the convexouter portion of the lens, as particularly well shown in Fig. 9.Immediately below its inturned edge 32, the body-portion 28 is formedwith an annular stop-bead 33, providing an interior channel for thereception of a waterproof.' packing-ring 34 and serving to engage withthe outer surface of the respective opposite walls 23 or 24, as the casemay be, of the standard 20, as clearly shown in Fig. 7.

For the purpose of retaining the various reector-buttons 21 in place inthe standard 2D, the body-portion 26 of each reflector-button isprovided near its inner end with a pair of retaining bosses 35, locateddiametrically opposite each other and over which is fitted aretaining-collar 36 engaging with the inner face of the adjacentside-wall 23 or 24, as the case may be, of the standard 20. Preferably,and as shown particularly well in Fig. 5, each standard is provided withan inverted cup-shaped cap 31 serving to guard against the entry of rainor snow into the tubular portion 22 of the standard.

As thus constructed, each illuminating post is. by virtue of thevertical arrangement of the reflector-buttons, provided in effect or.each of its respective opposite sides with what may be termed "elongatedupwardly-extending light-reflecting means. The said means is, therefore,effective despite appreciable variations in the level at which the lightfrom automobiles may strike.

This elongate vertical light collecting and refleeting means provides avertical luminous column visible from a vehicle having sources fromwhence light is-projecting toward said means and making the sameluminous. The units, each formed by the post and light reflecting meanscarried thereby, are spaced along the road at such distances that withinsafe stopping distance the luminous columns from succeeding post andreflector units apparently juxtapose to form a substantially continuousluminous wall. Any interruption in this luminous wall would indicate tothe driver of the vehicle that a pedestrianor some obstruction or thingwas present on the side of the road being traversed by the vehicle, ,andthus the driver would be warned and could slow down and stop ifnecessary.

Heretofore it was proposed to place short posts along the road inposition to be struck by over# hanging portions of a vehicle should the`rightside wheels leave the surface of the road, but

these posts, even if provided with reflectingV means, would not producea wall of light high enough to be blocked out or interrupted by apedestrian, obstruction, or other thing.

It was also proposed to have posts placed at intervals along the roadwaywith reflectors on them, but such reflectors did' not yextend for asufficient height, nor were they located at the proper level to form asubstantially continuous luminous wall, an interruption of which wouldindicate the presence of something.

According to the present invention, the vertical luminous columnpreferably starts about two feet from the level of the roadway andextends vertically for about two and one-half feet. In other words, thetop of the reflector is preferably about four and one-half or flve feetfrom the surface of the ground, and the wall of light would beinterrupted by the torso of a person walking along the road.

In order to provide reflecting means of differential reflectingcharacter, for the purpose as will be hereinafter described, arectangular reector-button 38 (Fig. 10) may be employed in place of orin combination with the round reflector-buttons 21, before described.Differential reflecting properties may also be secured by differentialcoloration of the lenses, such as 3 l that is to say, for instance, someof the lenses may be crystal-clear and others may have amber, green orother distinctive coloration. Diiferentiation in the reflectingcharacteristics of various illuminating posts may also be effected byarranging reflecting-buttons thereon in different patterns.

The standard 20 illustrated in Figs. 5 to '7 inclusive, has itsrespective opposite side-walls or faces 23 and 24 parallel for use onstraightaway stretches of highway or on curves. For use on sections of ahighway having rather sharp turns,

it is preferable under some conditions to employ4 an illuminating postof the character shown in Fig. 8, in which it will be noted that therespective opposite side-walls 23a and 2lia converge.

The illuminating posts, above described, are all of a double-facedcharacter, inasmuch as each of their respective opposite side-walls orfaces is provided with a plurality of reflectors, but if del sired,single-faced posts of the character shown in-Fig. l1 may be employed. Inthe figure just referred to, the standard 39 is of rectangular form incross-section and has mounted upon one of its faces a sheet-metal box40, in which may be mounted the desired number of reflector-buttons.

For the purpose of the better understanding of the effects achieved bythe present invention, let it be presumed that each of the respective'opposite sides of the highway, shown in Figs l to 4 inclusive, isprovided with a series of double-faced illuminating posts, of thegeneral character shown in Figs. 5 to '7 inclusive.

Let it further be presumed that each illuminating post is provided onone side or face with a vertical series of reflector-buttons or otherre- 'I5 nate clear and amber reflectors.

ilectors of crystal-clear charactenand that the opposite side or face ofeach'of the said posts is. equipped with a vertical seriesofreflectorbuttons of alternate amber coloration and crystal-clear.equipped with'the reflectors referred to, are

Amounted adjacent the side of the road a sultable distance therefrom, sothat the crystalclear reflector-buttons face back to traffic travelingon the right side of the road.

Under the arrangement just described, traflic moving in eitherdirectionl would have visible to it on the right only the faces of theilluminating posts equipped with crystal-clear reflectors, andwould'have visible to the left the opposite faces of the variousilluminating posts carrying alter- Thus, the illuminating lpests on oneside of the road are readily distinguishable from those on the otherside.

Tests have shown that very satisfactory results are obtained when theilluminating posts are spaced from each other on a given side of ahighway a distance of about one hundred and twenty-five feet for astraight section of the highway and seventy-five feetl onrelativelywsharp curves. Preferably, each illuminating post on one sideof the highway will be complemented by another illuminating post placedsubstantially directly-opposite on the other side of the highway, thusproviding a continuous series of gate-like'eifects. The illuminatingposts may be spaced varying distances from the edge of the highway,depending on conditions, and may, for instance, be spaced from two toten feet distant in the direction referred to.' The distances aboveenumerated may, of course. be varied to fit conditions, but it isdesirable that :it a given location, the illuminating-postsy on one sideoi' the highway should be spaced the same distance from the edge of suchhighway as the illuminating posts on the other side thereof, thusenabling a motorist to accurately gauge the location of the center ofthe road, with the result that he will maintain his car in a path on theproper side of the road-center,

The reflector-buttons or other reflectors employed should preferably beof such character as to have a relatively wide angle ofreflection. Thus,for instance, reflectors having capacity Afor reflecting or dispersinglight received from headlights of vehicles laterally to about 20 havebeen found satisfactory.

It has also been ascertained that a vertical series of reector-buttonsor their equivalent of about twenty-seven to thirty inches in extent isadequate for the purpose intended, especially when the lowermost portionof the series of reflectors is located from about eighteen to thirtyinches above the surface of the highway. The illuminating post hereinillustrated has a series of ten reflectors arranged one above the other`on three-inch centers, but it is obvious that a single reector ofsufficient extent might be used for the purpose in place of themultiplicity of in dividual reflector-buttons.

Observations made from installations of the improvedhighway-illuminating or demarcation system above described have shownthat thc blinding effect of the headlights of on-coming traffic is solargely minimized as to enable a driver to continue on his course withconfidence and assurance and with minimum danger both to himself and toother traic, whether vehicular or pedestrian.V Furthermore, not only arepedos- The illuminating posts as thus" trlans and parked vehicleseasilynoticed by a driver, owing partially at least to their interrupting thereflections from the various reflectors, but pedestrians themselves, ifwalking with their backs to an on-coming car, are apprised of theapproach of such on-coming car by the reflections seen by thepedestriansin the continuous series of illuminating posts located in advance oftheir position on the highway.

When the so-called reflector-buttons" are properly designed, their eectis to actually illuminate the highway to an effective degree by lightreflected from the headlights of vehicles.

By equipping the opposite sides of the illuminating posts with suitablereflectors and mount-- ing such illuminating posts on each of therespective opposite sides of the highway, a continuous traffic channelis outlined for the guidance of automobilists, thus enabling them toinstinctively judge the lcoation of the center of the highway. Bysuitable dierentiation in the character of the reflectors located vtothe left of a driver. as compared to those located to the drivers right,confusion is avoided as to which series of illuminating posts are to bekept to the driver's left and which are to be kept on his right.

It has also been observed that by placing a pair of illuminating postsdirectly opposite each other on the respective opposite sides of thehighway, an effect is obtained which may be aptly termed a gate effectbetween which a driver may guide his car. This effect is heightened by adifferentiation in the character of vthe reflectors located on theopposite sides of L the highway. The so-called "gate effect, justreferred to, is of maximum advantage on curved portions of a highway'andthis arrangement, especially when combined with differentiation in thecharacter of the reflectors on the respective opposite sides of thehighway, affords a guide which is effective under the most adverseconditions of weather, traffic, or both.

By differentiating the character of the reilectors on the respectiveopposite sides of the highway, automobilists are enabled to follow a saie course on the highway by observing a simple and obvious rule, i.v e.,to always keep an illuminating post of one reflecting character on theirright and the posts of another reecting character on their left. andnever to drive between two illuminating posts of similar reflectingcharacter.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than thoseherein set forth Without departing from the spirit and essentialcharacteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments aretherefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalencyrange of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

We claim:

l. A highway illuminating system comprising two series ofreflector-illuminating units arranged in couples in gate-like relationsubstantially opposite each other on opposite sides of the right of wayand equidistant from the center thereof. the units of each series beinglongitudinally equidistant on the straightaway and separatedlongitudinally by a distance greater than the width of the road andcombining to form a reflectorlighted corridor, each vertical unit ofboth series extending vertically in a zone above the normalheadlight-level and below the normal driving eye-level of the highway,the reflector-illuminator units on each side of the roadway beingprovided on one side or face with a series of reflectors of crystalclear character and on the opposite side or face with a series ofreflectors consisting of amber reflectors alternating with crystal clearreflectors, the series of uncolored reflectors on one side of the roadfacing in a direction opposite to that of the series of uncoloredreflectors on the opposite side of the road, the double series ofreflector-lighted units forming a lighted zone having a substantiallyuniform relation to the highway in the lateral, longitudinal andvertical directions, capable of reflecting light projected thereon by aheadlight approaching the rear of a pedestrian on the highway.

2. A road illuminating system comprising two series ofreflector-illuminating units arranged in couples in gate-like relationsubstantially opposite each other on opposite sides of the right of wayand equidistant from the center thereof. the units of each series beinglongitudinally equidistant on the straightaway and separatedlongitudinally by a distance greater than the width of the road andcombining to form a reflectorlighted corridor, each vertical unit ofboth series extending vertically in a zone above the normalheadlight-level and below the normal driving eye-level of the highway,the reflector-illuminator units on each side of the roadway beingprovided on one side or face with a series of reflectors of crystalclear character and on the opposite side or face with a series ofreflectors consisting of colored reflectors alternating withcrystal-clear reflectors, the series of uncolored reflectors on one sideof the road facing in a direction opposite to that of the Series ofuncolored reflectors on the opposite side of the road. the double seriesof reflector-lighted units forming a lighted zone having a substantiallyuniform relation to the highway in the lateral, longitudinal andvertical directions, capable of reflecting light projected thereon by aheadlight approaching the rear of a pedestrian on the highway.

3. A road illuminating system comprising a series ofreflector-illuminating units arranged on each side of the right of wayand equidistant from the center thereof, the units of each series beinglongitudinally equidistant on the straightaway and separatedlongitudinally by a distance greater than the width of the road andcombining to form a reflector-lighted corridor, each vertical unit ofboth series extending vertically in a zone above the normalheadlight-1evel and below the normal driving eye-level of the highway,the reiiector-illuminator units on each side of the roadway beingprovided on one side or face with a series of reflectors of crystalclearcharacter and on the opposite side or face with a series of reflectorsconsisting of colored re flectors alternating with crystal-clearreflectors. the series of uncolored reflectors on one side of the roadfacing in a direction opposite to that of the series of uncoloredreflectors on the opposite side of the road, the double series of re-Hector-lighted units forming a lighted zone having a substantiallyuniform relation to the highway in the lateral, longitudinal andvertical directions, capable of reflecting light projected thereon by aheadlight approaching the rear of a pedestrian on the highway.

FERDINAND O. SMITH. WILLIAM V. HIRSCHFELD.

